Ridgefield's Brunner a hit for UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team

The former Ridgefield High star leads the Gauchos with a .487 hitting percentage and ranks second with 84 blocks, and he is one of the starting middle blockers for a top-10 team.

"Just everything's gone so well," Brunner said. "All the high expectations that we've had have been met. We're a really good team; we're going to be good in the future."

Brunner's numbers throughout the season also impressed UC Irvine coach John Speraw, who doubles as the U.S. Junior National Team coach. Speraw liked what he saw and extended Brunner an invitation to try out for the junior national team this summer.

"Theo's made quite an impression on us," said Collin Powers, a coordinator for the USA Volleyball's High Performance National Program. "That (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) he plays on is a very competitive conference, and he's doing very well out there. We hope to see him progress onto the national team."

There was never an assurance, however, Brunner initially would be a part otheUCSB team. He is classified as a walk-on and wasn't even recruited by coach Ken Preston.

Connecticut hardly is known for turning out volleyball players, so don't blame Preston for overlooking Brunner. Then again, practically all of the traditional powerhouses on the West Coast ignored Brunner during the recruiting process.

The lack of attention did not deter Brunner. Instead, he reversed the recruiting process.

"I watched (a college match) on ESPN and I was thinking I could do that," Brunner said. "I knew that they don't recruit out on the East Coast or anything, so my mom and dad and I just put together some tape. We just got my name out there because they wouldn't have recruited me otherwise."

Brunner sent one of his tapes to UC Santa Barbara, and Preston was impressed with what he saw.

"(I saw) just a raw athlete," Preston said of the tape. "He's a good jumper. He hit a couple of balls that were really high and (he had) a fairly good arm, so we took a chance and brought him out."

Brunner still had plenty of work before making the team.

Preston invited Brunner to walk on the team, hardly a guaranteed spot on the roster. Still, Brunner made the 3,000-mile trek for a chance to make the team as a walk-on.

"I thought I could do it and I just wanted to show them I could jump and block," Brunner said. "I wasn't very good yet, but hopefully they saw potential in me."

Preston said he liked the potential and possibilities in Brunner, who has a team-best 11-foot-7 vertical leap. So Preston gave Brunner a spot on the team as a walk-on, but the coach thought Brunner still was far off from contributing to the team.

"When kids come into the program, you look for a couple of things," Preston said. "You look for really good ball control; you look for really good athleticism. The latter was the case with Theo.

"You could tell this is a good athlete that's never played at a high level. And especially at the middle position, you want good athletes in there."

The solution was for Brunner to redshirt, which meant he was allowed to train with the team but not compete in matches. So for the 2004 season, Brunner practiced with the Gauchos and he would have four years of eligibility beginning this year.

The entire time, Brunner also paid his own way through college since he was considered a walk-on and received no financial aid through the athletic department.

"I didn't mind it just because I was so thrilled to be able to play at that high of a level," said Brunner, who still is a walk-on this season but will be on partial scholarship next year. "Going to practice was a lot of fun for me. In the end, I needed (to sit out a season) because I needed to get stronger because I was pretty thin coming in. It was definitely an advantage because I think I can contribute four really good years."

And Brunner is showing how much he benefited from redshirting last season. He is averaging 2.24 kills a game, and his 18 solo blocks are second best on the team. Against then-No. 7 Stanford earlier this season, Brunner tallied 19 kills and four solo blocks, both of which were game- and career-highs.

He may hit another personal goal later this summer.

Brunner will train with 17 other invited players for two weeks during a session in July in Lake Placid, N.Y. Should he make the final cut - the roster carries 12 players - he will represent the Americans in the 2005 World Championships, held in India from Aug. 6-14.

"When I first got here, I was just worried about staying on the team and everything," Brunner said. "I've talked to coach a couple of times during individual meetings, and then he started telling me he thought I had the potential to be one of the best players in the country; even possibly making the national team in the future and having a future in volleyball, playing overseas or on the beach. That just really upped my confidence if they thought I could be that good. I really didn't think about it early, but now, it's definitely a possibility."